Prioritize action on river contaminants

Updated 9:17 pm, Wednesday, May 2, 2012

In our stretch of the Rio Grande near Laredo, levels of bacteria — fecal coliform and its more dangerous substrain, E. coli — remain astronomically high.

Most pathogens come from the fecal matter of humans and animals. This health hazard could lead to a major epidemic along the border. Downstream farmers irrigate crops with water pumped directly from the river.

The lack of political will by the United States and Mexico to deal with this problem has been a source of shame and embarrassment for our community for far too long.

The International Boundary & Water Commission will re-open a Laredo satellite in May. I urge the commission to prioritize this issue.

At an April 17 hearing in Laredo, IBWC Commissioner Edward Drusina outlined his priorities for the Rio Grande: storm drains, water quality and government encroachments where people build illegally along the river shoreline.

But I want to focus on water quality because the Rio Grande is what we and border communities like Nuevo Laredo, San Ygnacio and Zapata depend on for drinking water each and every day.

The Texas Clean Rivers Program has released preliminary results from its Laredo Bacteria Study. In 2011, they analyzed samples from 40 sites along 27 miles of river between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo.

Results are shocking.

When the river hits Laredo and curves toward the downtown international bridges, fecal coliform shoots off the charts. Following close behind is E. coli.

The United States allows a maximum E. coli count of 126 colonies/100 ml to ensure the human safety during swimming, fishing and boating. Our levels exceed U.S. standards by more than 19 times.

Mexico has no standards for E. coli, only for fecal coliforms — 1,000 colonies/100 ml. We exceed those by up to 14 times.

One key culprit for bacteria entering our stretch of the river is raw sewage from Nuevo Laredo. In April 1996, Nuevo Laredo opened a $60 million wastewater treatment plant built with financing from the North American Development Bank, but failed to connect all of its drains. Millions of gallons of raw sewage are still dumped into the river each day.

We often hear that Mexico City will release funds to finish connecting the rest of Nuevo Laredo, but no timeline is given.

Why has no government agency at any level in the U.S. or Mexico taken responsibility for cleaning up the river?

And why haven't we demanded more accountability from our government leaders to reverse the river's declining state?

This is an outrage.

At the April hearing, Dr. Hector Gonzalez, Laredo Health Department director, said Laredoans should have no fear since our Jefferson water plant delivers clean drinking water throughout the city.

But this is not enough.

The river and all of the aquatic life that it supports continue to suffer from bacteria levels that greatly exceed U.S. and Mexican standards. As our population continues to increase and pollution levels spiral out of control, our human health is in jeopardy.

We can no longer allow our river to keep flowing contaminated as is. We turn to the IBWC to help us end this persistent issue affecting both countries and our source of life, the Rio Grande.

Tricia Cortez is executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center.